Pumpkin Spice Scones

Make these. Seriously. They are incredible. I thought I had found my favorite scone recipe previously (and those are really good), but these are better. They are moist and sweet and full of wonderful pumpkin flavor. And the icing? Don’t leave it off, because it takes the scone from good, to something that I want to eat for breakfast every morning. It’s like the gooey topping of a cinnamon roll. Mike loved these as well. He no longer claims to dislike scones or pumpkin, that’s how good these are. He rated them a 4 and asked me to make them again this weekend, although without the nuts.

Directions:

Mix first 8 ingredients with a fork and add the frozen butter stick by grating it on a cheese grater over the flour mixture. (Note: work quickly, holding the frozen butter in its wrapper and a paper towel to keep it from melting.)

Mix butter curls into the flour mixture with a fork. In a small bowl, mix the pumpkin and cream and pour into the flour/butter mixture. Fold with a wooden spoon just until flour is moistened, then turn out onto a lightly floured board and gently knead over a couple of times.

Pat into a circle about 1 inch thick and cut into 8 sections like pie slices. Separate scones onto a cookie sheet and place them in the freezer for 30 minutes. (Or make these ahead and place them in the fridge overnight.)

Bake at 400F for about 25 minutes till just firm and golden around the edges. Let cool to room temperature.

For the Icing: Mix the first 5 icing ingredients (powdered sugar, cinnamon, ginger powder, corn syrup, vanilla). Add heavy cream in small amounts at a time, stirring often, until icing reaches the consistency of honey.

With a large soup spoon, spoon the icing over the cooled scones and sprinkle toasted walnuts over the top. Let the icing set a bit before putting the scones away in an airtight container.